Planners behind a controversial £100 million waste incinerator in Perth previously described as a “pollutant-belching monstrosity” have submitted revised proposals which they hope will allay public fears and meet the approval of Perth and Kinross Council.
Despite having its previous reserved matters application for an “energy to waste facility” on Shore Road refused by the local authority and a subsequent appeal rejected by the Scottish Government in November 2010, Oxfordshire firm Grundon Waste Management hopes to persuade the council that its revamped application, submitted this week, meets the necessary criteria.
The council originally granted planning permission for the incinerator which had an 80-metre chimney in 2006. However, it soon became clear that this had been granted without the knowledge of senior management or councillors. To rescind this decision would have cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Grundon’s last application was met with hostility from local politicians and Bridgend, Kinnoull and Gannochy Community Council, with even Perth Prison criticising it. Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart condemned the proposal, describing it as “a pollutant-belching monstrosity.”
Local people objected to the plans, which would have seen waste being brought in to the centre of Perth on lorries, and opponents claimed that detritus would be poured into the air for miles around.
However, Grundon has now lodged revised plans which include reducing the main chimney stack from 80 metres to 34 metres and an advanced gas process.
Alan Pollock is planning director with RPS Planning and Development in Edinburgh, which is acting as agent for Grundon, and he told The Courier of the revised plans.Plasma gasification”The key differences are, as opposed to the original incineration plant, an entirely different technology is now proposed plasma gasification process,” he said. “Also, the buildings on site are much smaller in scale than originally proposed with no high-level stack and, in addition, the waste is not now brought straight to the site but is sorted and pre-treated elsewhere as this removes odours.”
And a statement issued by Grundon said, “The grounds for refusing our appeal included design matters which this second application has specifically sought to address, in particular the scale and massing of the proposals.
“Grundon appealed Perth and Kinross Council’s decision to refuse planning permission but the appeal was unsuccessful. The reporter’s reasons for refusal included the plan would have an over-dominant impact on the immediately surrounding area and on the landscape and visual amenity of the wider area.
“The proposed facility will have a capacity of up to 90,000 tonnes per annum of residual solid waste and commercial and industrial waste. It would be operated within six buildings and would use Advanced Plasma Power gasification technology. The planned facility will generate around 16.2 MW of electricity annually for export to the National Grid enough to power around 28,000 households.
“The proposed stacks will have a height of 34 metres and 30 metres. This height is significantly reduced from the previous proposals for an 80-metre stack. The location of these stacks to the north of the site is intended to reduce the visual impact of them.
“The proposed facility will be operated in accordance with the principles of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and will be subject to an IPPC permit. The plan has also been subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, identifying any potential impacts on the environment.”
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user eastleighbusman.